The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-01-20
PADDING AND PANNIERS.
Why Perfect Figures Rare Nova
days.

days.
What is 4 perfect tigure?" repeated
| a popular Henry street modiste. well,
. perfect figure is a rarity. There are
many good figures in Detroit, but l
should say very few perfect ones; that
| is, OF just the required proportions
What are the proportions?"
'.Thirty-six inches bust and % waist,
IS inches chest and Il back. is 4 per-
feet figure. The average good figure is
SO bust with q waist. or 81 bust with
| % waist. OF course | am not speaking
of little ordinary figures, but women 5
feet inches to 5 feet or 9 inches in
height. Now, Fanny Davenport has
| what may be, called an extraordinary
| figure. She measures 20 inches waist,
| SO bust. and II inches in the length of
her waist, where 16 is called the perfect
| length"
Have you perfect figure among
your customers?"
Il have one, young lady on Sibley
| street. She has perfect figure, round
and proportionate, and needs no pad
ding
Padding! DO most figures require
padding?"
Bless you! There is not one in fifty
| that is not built up more or less. Some
are crooked, others are hollow-cheSted,
| or have vacuums under the arms, one
| shoulder higher than the other, or too
! high collar bones, and these defects
! have 10 be remedied in some way. you
see. No good dressmaker wishes TO
| turn out work that looks like a crazy
| quilt. Half the world would say it was
! the dressmaker's fault instead of seeing
that it was the figure which needed
| rounding out. Ladies oi,en say they
! will not wear a dress, but when they
have a few bad fits they are glad to
leave it to the dressmaker's Judgment
(Which is the better, wool or cotton,
for padding?"
Both answer the purpose. Actresses
| like WOOL it does not tlatten out. If we
have to build up only some particular
| part we use cotton. Some have an en-
| tire harness OF either cotton or wool.
! One objection to wool is its warmth, es-
| pecIally in hot weather. There are few
| figures SO free from angles as to do en-
tirely without some artificial plumpneSs,
| but 1t is very funny how few women see
| their figures as others see them. They
usually think their own forms divine,
| and the poor dressmaker suffers for it,
| when the truth of it is that not more
| than half of the American women have
even passably good figures. The other
| half are positively bad, and the dress
makers have to pad up to make them
at all presentable. Why. the very num-
| Der of manufactured articles for the i'm
| provement of women's shapes shows
! this. There is always coming out hip
hustle, dress-imprOyer, or a hip-exten-
der, or some new kind of corsets."
What kind of corSets do you consid-
er the best?'
"A long corset which holds the hip
down without pressure. A corset should
not be worn over the bust, except mere
ly as a support, but it should 90 over
the hips unless the figure is very slight"
"Wnat is the best style OF dress Tor a
bad tigure?"
Something full, which will cover the
defect. A plain princess is becoming
for an ordinary figure A good figure
looks best in perfectly plain dress"
How many can wear u plain dress?"
About five out OF twenty. OF course
any one can if she will consent to be
built up"
DO girls pad more than formerIy?'
20. yes. Twenty years ago very few
girls padded. | remember a young lady
visiting here from the East who spent
so much time padding that young So
ciety was greatly excited over it. It was
said that 1t took her three hours to
| dress for party. The mothers shook
their heads, and the girls were a little
inclined to be Jealous OF the attention
their brothers and beaux paid ner. A
good many young girls began to pad
then"
WAS there as much lacing in those
days?'
There has always been lacing since
my day. ! don't think the tight lacino
that there is so much talk of is half as
| bnd as the high-heeled shoes. Fashion
in footwear has more weak spines than
lacing ever has There is nothing that
ruins a figure like high-heeled, mar
roW-toed shoe
DO you think the athletic craze has
| anything to @ with the present shape?"
Not yet; neither that nor the esthetic
rage has run long enough to make any
change. think the next generation
will be benefited by these outside sports.
If parents would only see the necessity
Of watching their growing children the
next generation would need fewer pads
| and panniers. Men talk about tight
IaciDg and its being the cause of the
American woman's ili-health, but l
| don't believe it. The English women,
who are very healthy. lace much tighter.
think the STOPPING positions children
get into at school, doubling up their
spnes and compressing growing or
cans. and the long flights of stairs they
climb are more to be cenSured. | am
not graduate nor an NJ D., but ! wish
| could impress upon the American
! mother the great necessity of bad habits
being noticed and corrected in early
llfe-to give their children less book
education and make them take the right
| exercise. Every growing girl should
| exercise to promote symmetrical bodily
development 1t would save any amount
of trouble and temper if women and
girls were formed rs Nature intended
them to be. and as they might be if they
would give more attention to hygiene.
Then We would see grace and symmetry
and tapering curves in shoulders and
waists as Nature first defined them. -
Detroit Tribune.
Mrs. Frederick, a daughter of the
Lotto ToIona1 lIiIiiaDo a,viS of Suaot